DESCRIPTION (APPLICANT'S DESCRIPTION) Support is requested for a scientific meeting organized by the American Association for Cancer Research, Inc. (AACR). The conference entitled, "Transcriptional Control of Cell Growth and Differentiation," will be held at the Chatham Bars Inn in Chatham, MA, on October 16-20, 1994.The Program Committee for this conference consists of Drs. Eric N. Olson, Co-Chairperson and Principal Investigator; Bruce M. Spiegelman, Co-Chairperson; Joan V. Ruderman, and Elaine V. Fuchs. The meeting will be organized into eight sessions for oral presentations and three poster sessions and will provide ample time for the informal exchange of observations and ideas by the speakers and meeting participants. We anticipate that approximately 200 domestic and foreign scientists will attend. Participants will represent all levels of expertise from graduate students to senior investigators and will be drawn broadly from applicants within the academic, governmental and industrial sectors. Participation by women and minorities has been actively encouraged. The overall goal of the meeting is to allow the synthesis of ideas from different areas of gene regulation during cell growth and differentiation that will facilitate the formulation of new concepts for future directions of research in this rapidly moving field. This meeting will bring together outstanding cell and molecular biologists to discuss recent progress in understanding the regulation of gene transcription during cell growth and differentiation. It is well established that cell growth and differentiation are intimately linked cellular processes controlled by specific sets of regulatory genes. In many cell types, the genetic programs that control gene transcription during growth and differentiation are mutually exclusive. This antagonism between growth and differentiation is apparent during development, when many cell types do not differentiate until they have exited the cell cycle, as well as in transformed cells, in which unrestricted cell growth is associated with a block to differentiation. The identification of the genes that govern growth and differentiation and the elucidation of the mechanisms that control their expression will therefore contribute to an understanding of the molecular basis for the establishment of specialized cell types during development of therapeutic strategies for controlling cancer growth.